Pursuing Gospel-Centeredness, #3
January 31, 2008 | 1 Comment
This suggestion about pursuing gospel-centeredness will be brief, but important. Also, it may be the one that I personally am most in need of taking to heart. The suggestion is this:
Be happy.
Probably anyone reading this blog knows that the word gospel means, ‘good news.’ And good news should not make a person gloomy! When the angel of the Lord appeared before the shepherds to announce the birth of the Savior, he said,
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.“
Good news of great joy! That is what he Gospel is. In Jesus Christ, God has descended to earth in flesh and blood, revealing His glory and taking on Himself the punishment that we deserved for our treasonous rebellion against Him. There is now no condemnation for the one who trusts in Jesus, and our endless striving for the love and acceptance that we lost in Eden need not crush us with a weight of despair any longer. Jesus absorbed our punishment and provided our righteousness, and by looking back at these extraordinary mercies, we can look confidently to the future that God will withhold nothing good from us (Romans 8:32). Every day should be happy, even in the midst of great trials and heartaches. As Paul said, he was sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10). Such should be the disposition of the person who knows God’s saving work in Jesus.
All the right doctrine in the world will not commend the gospel to anyone, if it is not adorned with a deep delight in the good news. If people that we want to help become gospel-centered do not see the profound joy that the gospel awakens in us, they will not feel the need to pursue a deeper foundation in the gospel. So in a very real sense, to help others become gospel-centered we must out-rejoice them.
As I said, I am preaching to myself here. I am not widely known as an exuberantly joyful person. That is to my shame. But by God’s grace, I do believe God has been making me a happier person over the past few months, as the gospel has become more precious in my heart. My prayer is that others will see that, and desire to know the reason for the hope that is in me.
Seeking to adorn the good news with great joy,
Larry
John 4:15-26
January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In my first reflection on the beginning of John 1, I took special note of the introductory words of John that Jesus came to manifest the glory of His Father, being full of grace and truth. I said that this is a theme that I thought I’d return to many times in looking through the entire Gospel.
It was evident in chapter 2, when Jesus turned water into wine to liven up a dying party (grace), then went into the temple in a rage of anger and drove out the money changers and overturned their tables (truth). It was evident in chapter 3, as Jesus exposed Nicodemus’ ignorance (truth), but then shared the gospel with him (grace).
And it is evident here in chapter 4. Yesterday I shared my sense of wonder at reading Jesus’ words to the woman at the well, ‘Give me a drink of water.’ These words, and the encounter in verses 1-14, is complete grace. And so as I read verses 15-26, I took special note of the hard truth that Jesus began to bring out in this interaction. What ignited these thoughts especially were Jesus’ words in verse 17,
“You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.“
What incredible boldness! I would probably be afraid to say such a thing, thinking that I would alienate her to the point of ‘turning her off’ to spiritual matters. But Jesus does not mix words; He does not beat around the bush. He has shown her a wealth of grace already, but He mingles that perfect grace with bold, hard truth. This woman is an adulteress, and she needs to be confronted with the truth as well as receive grace if she is ever to become a true worshiper of the living God.
As soon as the woman indicated that she wanted the living water that Jesus offered (v. 15), Jesus went to work on exposing the idols of this woman’s heart that were keeping her from finding her true heart’s delight in Him. It is so essential in ministering to others (believers or unbelievers) that we get at their hearts and expose the hidden treasures that keep them from the ultimate, eternal treasure in Jesus.
As I read this passage, I found myself full of admiration for Jesus, who knows the heart perfectly and uses just the right words to lovingly break us in order that He might mold us into worshipers in spirit and in truth. I pray that He will give me the grace to see my own heart for what it is, and to treat others with grace even while boldly helping others to see into the depths of their own hearts.
What’s a Christian?
January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Yesterday I was in the car doing a driving lesson with a young lady, and as I try to do always, we got to talking about matters of faith. She told me several times that she was a Christian, that she had been raised in a Christian family and had been at church ‘all the time’ when she was younger. But now that she had graduated high school she was not as involved as she had used to be. Nevertheless, she believed in God and regarded herself as a Christian.
As I talked with her, I suspected there was very little substance, if any to her profession of faith. I wanted to gently show her that, or at least get her asking some questions to cause her to think more deeply about what she believed. So at one point in the lesson, I said to her, ‘It sounds like you’ve been in the church a long time and since you are a Christian, so do you mind if I ask you one more question?’ She agreed, and so I asked her, ‘What’s a Christian?’
She looked at me nearly dumbfounded. ‘Wow, that’s a really good question. And I should know the answer to that shouldn’t I?’ Well, if you are one, then I suppose it would be good to know what one is, I said in a humorous tone though there really was no humor in it. She thought for a few seconds and simply responded, ‘I don’t know.’ When I confirmed that she was saying she was a Christian but simultaneously she did not know what a Christian was, and she said that’s right. ‘That sounds kind of bad doesn’t it?’ she asked me. I told her that she should really find out what a Christian was, because then she could know for sure whether she was one or not.
As our lesson came to a conclusion, I had an opportunity to share with this young woman what a Christian was. But my answer got me thinking about how others might answer that question. So I would be interested to know what you readers think; if you had 60 seconds to tell someone what a Christian was, what would you say? I realize that a 60 second answer might prompt more questions from the person you are talking with, and much more should and could be said. But what’s the barest of the basics that they need to know?
Leave a comment and let me know what you think,
Larry
Pursuing Gospel-Centeredness, #2
January 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Yesterday I began a series of posts that were inspired by a recent comment on the blog regarding how to how to help others see their need to be gospel-centered. I mentioned a first step of having patience with others, knowing that all of us who are in Christ are in a process of growth. It has taken me almost 8 years in Christ to realize and be broken over how I’ve made the Cross a peripheral issue. We need to show others the same patience that God has shown us.
Another thing that jumps out to me about pursuing gospel-centeredness is the need to see the gospel in the whole Bible. A part of helping others become gospel-centered is becoming gospel-centered ourselves. So it is huge that as we open up God’s Word, we are on the lookout for the gospel on every page. In Luke 24:47, Luke tells his readers,
“27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.“
The entire Bible is about Jesus…which means that in all the pages of Scripture we can see gospel-pointers. For example, this morning in one of my readings I read Psalm 93. The psalm is about the majesty, power and might of God. As I read this short psalm, I was struck by the words, ‘Holiness befits your house.’ This incredibly strong, majestic, omnipotent God requires holiness of those who dwell with Him. How terrifying this ought to be! For we are unholy, and that means that the God who is ‘mightier than the thunders of many waters’ is angry with me and I am subject to the full fury of His power being poured out on me! Yet because Jesus has absorbed that anger and provided me a perfect righteousness, I need not be terrified of this almighty One, but I can call Him Father.
This should be a regular part of our devotional reading, to see how the text relates to the gospel, which is the main storyline of the entire Bible. As our hearts continually become saturated in the gospel, it will flow out of us and bless those who we want to see the gospel in a more profound way.
Seeking to see the Eternal Word in the written Word,
Larry
John 4:1-14
January 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This is the beginning of the well-known account of the interaction between Jesus and the woman at the well. I trust others can relate with me that it is sometimes hard reading these very familiar stories, because it seems like we ‘know them’ already. I must remind myself constantly that the goal of my reading is not to learn something new, but to worship Jesus Christ. Of course there will be many days when we do learn something new, but we need not be discouraged when that does not happen. It may be something very familiar that we find a fresh affection for as we read.
As I read the passage I took special note of verse 7,
Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
How simple this is, and yet how marvelous! The woman was shocked that Jesus would speak to her, for she was not only a woman, but a Samaritan woman. This is absolutely scandalous! The King of Israel condescends to make conversation with an evil Samaritan, and to ask her for a drink of water! It really is stunning.
Of course Jesus did not say this because He needed a drink, but because He knew that she needed a drink, an eternally satisfying drink that would never fail her (v.14). But He knew that she would never approach Him, had He not done so first.
So it is with every fallen child of Adam. We do not seek God, but suppress the truth about Him in unrighteousness. If left to ourselves, none would come to Jesus. None would ask Him for a drink of living water. But in His grace Jesus seeks out His enemies and converts them into worshipers. As I read I was reminded of the line of the great hymn Come Thou Fount,
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God.
In the process of salvation, God is always initiating, opening the eyes of rebels to see the riches of His grace.
Grateful that Jesus sought me out,
Larry
John 3:22-36
January 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
There is much in these words to humble the proud heart. There is the example of John the Baptist, who saw people leaving him to follow Jesus, and humbly responded, ‘He must increase; I must decrease’. How many pastors there are who get jealous when a church across town begins to thrive! Not so with John the Baptist.
Or there are the incredible words of verse 27, that a person cannot receive anything unless it is given him from heaven.’ Of all that I have, absolutely none of it is deserved or owed to me. Every good thing we have is a gift from the Almighty.
But the words in this passage that touched me most as I read were the words of verse 31,
He who comes from above is above all.
This is a reference to Jesus, who descended to earth from heaven (coming from above) and is therefore above all. All the nations and rulers of the earth are but a mere drop in the bucket to Jesus Christ, who is above all. Yet to read these words in light of the end of the Gospel are so incredible. He who has from all eternity been above all, making Himself the lowest of all, and suffering shamefully the agonies of Calvary. This He did so that sinners like you and me could be restored to right relationship with God, worshiping forever Him who is above all.
Grateful for Jesus’ greatness, and His willingness to be emptied of His greatness to become the servant of sinful man,
Larry
Pursuing Gospel-Centeredness, #1
January 29, 2008 | 1 Comment
I’m hoping that this series of posts is going to have at least four or five parts to it, but I suspect there will be even more. I also hope that Joe will have some time in his schedule and internet access to add his own thoughts here. In sum, few things have filled my thoughts as much in the past 9 months as the need and desire to be gospel-centered. I was first convicted of this last April at the Sovereign Grace leadership conference, when CJ Mahaney preached on Trinitarian Pastoral Ministry. He spoke at length in that message on the need to have the cross at the center of every sermon. Since then, I have been striving to be more gospel-centered in my preaching and other forms of ministry.
Last week in posting a great message on this subject from Tim Keller, Will responded with the following comment:
How does a layman like myself communicate the truth of this sermon, in love, to those in our churches who believe that preaching begins with the interests of the congregation and not with the cross? Sometimes when I have tried to do this, the reaction is either that I am not able to relate to most people “where they are”, or I am told that some people need “practical” teaching, others “theological”. I’d be interested to hear some of your thoughts, strategies, and scripture that might help me to communicate with my fellow believers the necessity to always “preach Christ, and him crucified”.
I think this question is so important, that I want to to devote several posts to it. There is no real order of importance to the ’strategies’ that I will mention, and please know from the outset that I am well aware that I have not ‘arrived’ in this area. The#1 person in need of pursuing Gospel-Centeredness is me!
That being said, my first tip for Will and others would be this: be patient.
I have been a Christian now for 8 years, and it was into my seventh year that I began to feel broken over how little my life and ministry were gospel-centered. Every person is at a different point in their journey with Christ. I know that in the first seven years there was no doubt that my life had been changed by the Gospel, but the love for the Gospel and the emphasis on its centrality just weren’t there. Yet in God’s patience and love, He has brought me to a place of greater love for the central message of the Bible.
At the heart of our own applying the Gospel daily is our bearing with and being patient with and humble towards those who are different from us, believer or unbeliever. “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:1-2).
So show your friends love and compassion and humility and patience as you seek to lead them to a greater love of and appreciation for the Gospel. If you are not patient with them, you will belittle the message which you so eagerly want them to elevate.
Striving to be patient with others as God has been patient with me,
Larry
John 3:16-21
January 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I’ll try to get back in the swing of things today by posting a couple of reflections from John 3.
In this short passage, what I took note of especially were Jesus’ words in verse 18,
Whoever believes in him (The Son) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The magnitude of this claim is remarkable. No leader of any religious movement has ever said something so amazing. No ordinary nice, kind human teacher can get away with saying something so extraordinary, which is what makes the line of argument that Jesus was only a good moral teacher a ridiculous one. What kind human teacher says, ‘If you do not believe in me, you are condemned. ‘ A person’s response to Jesus determines one’s eternal destiny.
Over the centuries, there have been many people who have claimed to be God, or a god. Without exception, all of them have done little but influenced a few unstable people in their own generation. Once they died, they had no enduring legacy but to be thought of as a fool. In history, Jesus Christ alone has claimed to be the litmus test of whether a person has life or death, and had a remarkable influence on millions of people in countless generations and cultures for 2000 years.
The influence of Jesus and the astounding claims of Jesus have never been repeated since His ascension to heaven. May God open blind eyes to see that no ordinary human teacher can say, ‘Believe in me, and you will have eternal life,’ without being a wicked liar or a delirious lunatic.
January 27, 2008 | 1 Comment
For now at least, our internet is back and functioning. I have decided to stay off the computer on Mondays, which is my day off. So I hope to resume my blog posts on John and a few posts regarding pursuing Gospel-centeredness starting on Tuesday.
Maybe that other blogger on this site could post something? (He is in Turkey and has had no internet, so I’ll cut him some slack!)
Larry
Blog Delay
January 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I am not abandoning the Gospel of John reflections or other blogging, but I have been having some internet problems lately and I’m not sure when that is going to be resolved. When it is, I will pick back up in John where I left off and hopefully have some other reflections as well.
Larry
John 3:1-15
January 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Back in July I posted that the deepest, most foundational reason that I love Jesus Christ is the mingling together of transcendence and imminence that are found in Him. I was reminded of that again this morning as I read these verses in John 3, especially verse 13,
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
There is an immeasurably great chasm between finite, fallen human beings and heavenly glory. No human has or ever coul ascend to heaven on their own. I thought it was significant that these words were spoken to Nicodemus, a Pharisee who was surely a model in religious disciplines and knowledge. Yet it was to this man who Jesus said, ‘You must be born again.’ We’d assume that Jesus would save these words for the woman at the well in the next chapter, or a wretched tax collector. But no, He says it to the one of the most pious, upright individuals in the whole nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. The point is, you cannot get to heaven. The distance is too great, the glory of the Heavenly King is too magnificent, and we are too unclean because of our sin. This is the transcendence of Jesus; He alone has ascended to heaven.
Yet in the very same verse we see the imminence of Jesus; He who ascended to heaven is the One who came down from heaven. The eternal Word became flesh and blood and dwelt among us, revealing the glory of His Father and becoming a slave (Phil. 2:6), so that through His substitutionary death His righteousness could become ours and we could ascend with Him to heavenly glory.
Jesus is incalculably higher than us, yet by grace He has come astonishingly near. This is the glory of Christ.
The True and Better Heman
January 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
As I wrote earlier this week, one of the resources which God has recently used to minister to my soul is a message that Tim Keller delivered at the Gospel Coalition conference called ‘Gospel-Centered Ministry’. One of the points he made in it was that Gospel-centered ministry is Christological, meaning that it focuses on Jesus Christ at every point. In the message he went on for a few minutes about how all the Old Testament points to and finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. ‘Jesus is the true and better Adam…Jesus is the true and better Abel…Jesus is the true and better Abraham…’ He went on and on, and I loved it. He spoke of this being an instinct as you come to the Bible, that you can just see Jesus in all the characters and stories.
This morning my first reading in the Word was Psalm 88, which is written by a man named Heman the Ezrahite. As I read, my soul was stirred in considering Jesus as the true and better Heman. If you’ve ever read Psalm 88, you know that it is possibly the darkest, most depressing psalm (with Psalm 39 as another possibility). And as I read his most depressing prayer this morning, my heart leaped for joy as I pondered Jesus being the true and better Heman, who didn’t just feel utterly forsaken by the Father, but really was forsaken, so that we would never be utterly forsaken.
Heman’s soul was full of troubles, and he was counted among those who go down to the pit (88:3-4). What a picture of Jesus, who bore the full measure of His Father’s wrath yet remained unwavering in His calling out to the Father. Because the Father’s wrath has swept over Jesus (v.16), because darkness became His only companion (v. 18, Matt. 27:45), I can have meaning and hope when I feel forsaken. Because Jesus experienced in my place the full sorrow and alienation from God’s presence, I can rise up from the dead and praise Him for His steadfast love and faithfulness (v.11). Because darkness was Jesus’ only friend, I can know that in my seasons of darkness, God is still with me as my friend.
About a year and a half ago, I came close to preaching a message on Psalm 88 as I did a series on worship in the Psalms. But I’m glad I didn’t preach it then, because I have a feeling that when I do preach it some time, it will be a lot more powerful than it would have been by focusing on the true and better Heman revealed in Jesus Christ.
Keller concludes after his tour through redemptive history, ‘The Bible’s not about you…it’s about Jesus.’ That means we should be on the lookout from Genesis to Revelation seeking to see all that is revealed of Him.
How grateful I was this morning for Jesus, the true and better Heman. Because He endured the darkness, I can walk in light.
Larry
John 2:12-25
January 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This passage is one of those which, when combined with the passage right before it, gives such a beautiful picture of Jesus being full of grace and truth. Yesterday I mentioned how Jesus is the Master of the Feast, showing His glory by doing something so small as livening up a dying party by turning water into wine.
But today’s passage reveals a totally different side of Jesus. While the first half of the chapter shows Jesus is not opposed to a good party, but is gracious in keeping the celebration, in this passage we see Jesus hating what is evil and being full of zeal over the desecration of His Father’s house. He is filled with rage and drives out the money changers with a whip and turns over their tables. This is a perfect display of the truth and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
I long to be able to imitate Jesus in both these forms of beauty. I want to be one who is able to bring life and happiness to a party because His joy abides in me. And I also long to be zealous for His holiness, so that I hate all that ignores and neglects Him. Jesus was never socially irrelevant, but He also was never socially or theologically liberal. His accommodation to the culture around Him never made Him aloof and detached.
Help us, Lord, to display both Your grace and Your truth in every aspect of my earthly existence,
Larry
John 2:1-11
January 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This is the story of Jesus’ first sign, the turning of water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. I must confess that as I read this I had a few things in mind already, because of a sermon I recently heard by a certain pastor from New York City whose name is becoming a household word (the message, preached on these verses, can be listened to here).
As I read I tried to divorce the text itself from the message that I heard, so as to allow this passage to speak to me afresh. What I was most encouraged by came in the words at the end of the story,
11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.
What I saw here is that I believe it is a measure of the greatness of Jesus Christ that He manifests His glory even in the common or secular events of life. Who would have though that the Messiah, the fully divine, eternally existent Son of God, the Creator of the universe, would come to earth and as His first sign by which He would reveal the riches of His glory, would liven up a dying party by making more wine for the celebration? This is stunning! It seems so small, so insignificant; He’s the King of the universe for crying out loud! What’s the big deal about keeping a wedding banquet rolling after some bad planning leaves the party dry?
The lesson is, in my opinion, profound. The revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ is not confined to the ‘religious’ activities of Bible reading, prayer, and corporate singing. These are precious means of grace, do not misunderstand me. But Jesus’ greatness is seen in so many other things…in big feasts or sporting events or art museums or orchestra concerts. Jesus is the true ‘Master of the Feast’, whose light enlivens every seemingly insignificant act of life.
I left my time this morning praying that God would open my eyes so that I could see these manifestations of glory which surround me each and every day.
Longing to admire Jesus everywhere I go and in all that I do,
Larry
John 1:43-51
January 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This morning in my reading I found myself marveling at the patience and tenderness of Jesus. In many ways the story here about Nathaniel is an early portrait of the fickleness of heart that Jesus had to deal with so often during His earthly ministry. He would tell His apostles that He was about to be betrayed and killed, and the next minute they would be arguing about which of them was the greatest!
Here Nathaniel speaks with both pride and prejudice when he says, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Jesus tells him just one thing (’I saw you under the fig tree’), and in the next breath Nathaniel is declaring Jesus to be the Son of God and the King of Israel!
So here, right at the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus has a foreshadowing of the fickleness that awaits Him. One moment the people are shouting, ‘Hosanna!’, and the next they are shouting, ‘Crucify!’ And sadly, they are a portrait of how fickle I can still be, consumed with worry and unbelief one minute, and then declaring His praises the next.
Mercifully, Jesus did not abandon Nathaniel, or me. When confronted with such wavering trust, Jesus does not say, ‘You’ll never get it; why should I waste My time with these fools?’ Rather He says, ‘You will see greater things than these.’ Jesus will not quench a faintly burning wick, but will fan it into a flame of holy love.
Thankful for the unwavering love of Jesus,
Larry
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